Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus Fell Through Because Marcelo Salas Refused to Go

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly came close to joining Juventus in 2003, but the Bianconeri were unable to complete the deal because Marcelo Salas refused to move to Sporting Lisbon in a swap deal. 

Alessandro Moggi, son of former Juventus general director Luciano and president of football management agency GEA World, told Tuttosport's Guido Vaciago (h/t Calciomercato):

"Juventus wanted to sign him, and I travelled to Lisbon with [Ronaldo's agent] Jorge Mendes. The idea was to make a swap deal with Marcelo Salas as Juventus wanted to sell him. Trouble is, Portuguese football wasn't too interesting at the time and we didn't manage to persuade Salas to move to Portugal.

"Contracts and papers were ready, Ronaldo was happy because in that moment Juventus were one of the best teams in Europe. That day we could have changed the history of European football, maybe Ronaldo could have still been a Juventus player."

Moggi added Ronaldo, then 18, had been turned down by both Parma and Lazio.

Salas experienced a torrid time in Turin as he made just 26 appearances in two seasons, scoring four goals, but he opted to return to River Plate in 2003 rather than join Sporting.

The forward instead moved to Manchester United that summer before joining Real Madrid in 2009, scoring more than 500 goals for the two clubs in almost 700 appearances. He has won five league titles and four UEFA Champions League trophies in that time, among other silverware.

He reached a significant milestone while scoring against the Old Lady to hand Real the Champions League last season, per OptaJose:

Despite Juventus' status among Europe's elite, Ronaldo may well have regretted moving to Juve had he joined.

The Bianconeri won back-to-back Serie A titles 2005 and 2006, but they were stripped of them and relegated to Serie B for their part in the Calciopoli scandal, and they would not win another league trophy until 2012.